Dear Miller Brewing Company,

It is time to bring the Miller High Life back to premium or super premium status. This is has always been your best beer I know back in the 80's Miller Lite and MGD became your darlings but you were wrong Miller High Life should never have been neglected. Please as a liquor store owner focus on bringing the champagne of beers back to super premium status. It will take time but imo it is worth it.

Sincerely,

Lifeofbrian

P.S. If you have any questions please contact JJ Taylor and I will be more than happy to answer any questions.

Beer Trader

High Life >>>MGD. (Seriously, what's the point of MGD? And why is it in a clear bottle?) Miller Lite, while I don't care for it, probably does bring in a lot of money for them. I know a lot of people around here drink it.

Beer Trader

Haven't drank a Miller in a long time but High Life is one beer I remember making me cringe with each sip. Miller Lite is much more tolerable if you're just looking to get drunk and thats really their only purpose.

Subscriber

Miller High Life was never a "super premium" - it was, when it was Miller's flagship in the '70's and early 80's, squarely in the "premium" price segment (i.e., at or near Budweiser & Schlitz prices) in most markets.

I does appear that it particularly difficult to move a brand UP the price segment ladder - once a beer becomes known as a "cheap" beer (in the old "popular" or "price/economy" segments) returning to a premium price has not been too successful. Examples abound in the Pabst portfolio, many of which were priced higher when they were Schlitz, Falstaff, Stroh and Heileman brands. The few times Pabst has attempted an "upscale" make-over, it does seem that consumers resisted and the move ultimately failed (i.e, Schlitz Gusto, Heileman Old Style [after returning to krausening], Primo, etc.)

...unless the sales of the cash cows that are Miller Lite and MGD were to take a huge nose dive, Miller couldn't care about High Life brand.

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Miller High Life (as a "sub-premium" in most markets) currently outsells Genuine Draft by a large amount, 4.7m bbl/yr with a 2.2% market share (2011) versus MGD's 1.6m bbl/yr and 0.8% share. Also, note that MGD's sales have been going down at much greater rate 14-18% than HL's 4-7%. (Beer Marketing Insights figures).

Of course, (and I'm reluctant to bring it up since some BA's always get upset at the idea) MHL and MGD are the same base beer, the primary difference being the former's pasteurized and the latter is micro-filtered/sterile-filled ("Cold Filtered" in Miller's trademarked terminology) - easily seen when looking at the MC Nutrition Page (click "Domestic") and the two beers have the exact same stats. The original MGD was even labeled Miller High Life Genuine Draft in it's earliest incarnation in the mid-1980's. It's a classic example that the cost of ingredients and brewing procedures has little to do with the shelf price of beer.

Beer Trader

Miller High Life was never a "super premium" - it was, when it was Miller's flagship in the '70's and early 80's, squarely in the "premium" price segment (i.e., at or near Budweiser & Schlitz prices) in most markets.

I does appear that it particularly difficult to move a brand UP the price segment ladder - once a beer becomes known as a "cheap" beer (in the old "popular" or "price/economy" segments) returning to a premium price has not been too successful. Examples abound in the Pabst portfolio, many of which were priced higher when they were Schlitz, Falstaff, Stroh and Heileman brands. The few times Pabst has attempted an "upscale" make-over, it does seem that consumers resisted and the move ultimately failed (i.e, Schlitz Gusto, Heileman Old Style [after returning to krausening], Primo, etc.)

Miller High Life (as a "sub-premium" in most markets) currently outsells Genuine Draft by a large amount, 4.7m bbl/yr with a 2.2% market share (2011) versus MGD's 1.6m bbl/yr and 0.8% share. Also, note that MGD's sales have been going down at much greater rate 14-18% than HL's 4-7%. (Beer Marketing Insights figures).

Of course, (and I'm reluctant to bring it up since some BA's always get upset at the idea) MHL and MGD are the same base beer, the primary difference being the former's pasteurized and the latter is micro-filtered/sterile-filled ("Cold Filtered" in Miller's trademarked terminology) - easily seen when looking at the MC Nutrition Page (click "Domestic") and the two beers have the exact same stats. The original MGD was even labeled Miller High Life Genuine Draft in it's earliest incarnation in the mid-1980's. It's a classic example that the cost of ingredients and brewing procedures has little to do with the shelf price of beer.

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How large of a brewery was Miller when Phillp Morris took it over in the late 60's ? Was it in the top 10?

Subscriber

How large of a brewery was Miller when Phillp Morris took it over in the late 60's ? Was it in the top 10?

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It was #7 in 1970 (behind AB, Schlitz, Pabst, Coors, Schaefer and Falstaff, respectively) having just passed Carling that year. They had a market share of 4.1% (compare with AB's 17.7%). Miller had been creeping up since the early '60's (#10 in 1960), although they were higher up in the '50's, when both Pabst and Blatz stumbled (and eventually merged - temporarily). Miller was the last of the Milwaukee Big 3 to brew outside the city - which didn't happen until the mid-60's when they bought Lucky's Azura, CA brewery and Carling's Ft. Worth's plant (the latter still open).

IIRC, the last major Miller heir sold out in the 1960's (she was anti-alcohol!) and Philip Morris got it's foothold into the company by buying out W. R. Grace's majority share and then bought the remainder of the company by 1970. Last I looked, Philip Morris still owns a big portion of SABMiller (about a 1/3?) as a result of the sale to SAB.

Of course, (and I'm reluctant to bring it up since some BA's always get upset at the idea) MHL and MGD are the same base beer, the primary difference being the former's pasteurized and the latter is micro-filtered/sterile-filled ("Cold Filtered" in Miller's trademarked terminology) - easily seen when looking at the MC Nutrition Page (click "Domestic") and the two beers have the exact same stats. The original MGD was even labeled Miller High Life Genuine Draft in it's earliest incarnation in the mid-1980's. It's a classic example that the cost of ingredients and brewing procedures has little to do with the shelf price of beer.

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I was gonna bring it up if you didnt. I thought it was semi-common knowledge. People here get upset at that?

Beer Trader

So let me get this straight. We're talking about a beer that is already available everywhere, and the problem is that it's priced too low? The problem is that people need corporate marketing to make them feel better about themselves for drinking it?

Yeah, apparently because they read "the same base beer" as saying that they taste exactly the same and all those folks who are pro-MGD/anti-MHL and those iin the opposite camp get very indignant at what they take as a suggestion that they've been duped. In theory*, Miller goes through the trouble of pasteurizing one and "Cold Filtering®" the other because THEY think there's a difference in taste (or maybe it's just that they think they've convinced beer drinkers they can taste the difference?).

*Luckily, I can remain out of such arguments. My last High Life came around 35 years ago (I remember only 'cause I recall who I was dating and where we were) in the pre-MGD era and the only MGD I've ever had were freebies at a friend's family bar where it is on tap. (My first impression upon seeing the tap handle- "Really? Miller Genuine Draft --- on tap? Isn't that redundant?") So that beer is neither pasteurized or Cold-Filtered in the manner of the bottled/canned stuff.​

In theory*, Miller goes through the trouble of pasteurizing one and "Cold Filtering®" the other because THEY think there's a difference in taste (or maybe it's just that they think they've convinced beer drinkers they can taste the difference?).

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Its been over a decade since I had either and I remember thinking they tasted different and one was less bad than the other. But I dont remember which.

Its not like I did a triangle test with them though, so who knows if I could distinguish or not?

SubscriberBeer Trader

If they want to change the image and price structure, they should put it in brown bottles and use their marketing campaigns on the labels like: "New Miller High Life now triple-hopped and in vortex bottles" with the emphasis on "new". At least they would get curiosity purchases.

Subscriber

To expand on "Lifeofbrian's" reply, they are industry terms for beer categories based on the general retail price segment in which a brand is marketed, rather than an implication of quality - as might be suggested by words like premium and super premium.

Other domestic segments include "price/economy" and "popular priced" (altho', with the disappearance of many pre-craft local and regional breweries, those two categories have more or less been merged into a "less than premium" segment). Taking Anhueser-Busch's classic core line-up, they's normally be categorized as:

Michelob - Super Premium​

Budweiser, Bud Light - Premium​

Busch - Popular​

Natural Light - Economy​

​

The categories are somewhat loose, and beers might be marketed in one category in one region, and in another elsewhere. With the coming of craft beer and the larger and more varied (types and pricing) import market, the segments aren't as defined or clear cut. Sometimes you'll now see a newer "Above Premium" segment referred to, or a "Specialty" beer segment and then add a price qualifier - i.e., a malt liquor might be a "Specialty" beer sold in the "Premium" price range.

All I really know about BMC beers is that back in the day when I was 19-20 and we drank Bud Light by the gallon we used to make the choice like this "Ok, they have "BRAND" and "BRAND" Light at this store. Which do we want?" "Well, so its either piss or watered down piss? That's easy"

Subscriber

In undergrad economics, popular priced meant the price was popular with the management or manufacturer. lol

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Pabst had a long running ad campaign when they moved Pabst Blue Ribbon from the premium to popular price segment, so it was a well-enough known term at the time (1960's) that they used it aimed at the beer drinking public at large.

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In NJ (where both had breweries in Newark at the time) Budweiser sold for $1.25 (sixpack of 12 oz. cans) and popular-priced PBR was $1.15. (NJ ABC Price List 1964)

Beer Trader

It was #7 in 1970 (behind AB, Schlitz, Pabst, Coors, Schaefer and Falstaff, respectively) having just passed Carling that year. They had a market share of 4.1% (compare with AB's 17.7%). Miller had been creeping up since the early '60's (#10 in 1960), although they were higher up in the '50's, when both Pabst and Blatz stumbled (and eventually merged - temporarily). Miller was the last of the Milwaukee Big 3 to brew outside the city - which didn't happen until the mid-60's when they bought Lucky's Azura, CA brewery and Carling's Ft. Worth's plant (the latter still open).

IIRC, the last major Miller heir sold out in the 1960's (she was anti-alcohol!) and Philip Morris got it's foothold into the company by buying out W. R. Grace's majority share and then bought the remainder of the company by 1970. Last I looked, Philip Morris still owns a big portion of SABMiller (about a 1/3?) as a result of the sale to SAB.

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Thanks, was Philip Morris a larger company than Anheuser-Busch back then?

Subscriber

Thanks, was Philip Morris a larger company than Anheuser-Busch back then?

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Hmmm... good question. Looks like they were pretty close together on the Fortune 500 in 1970 - #145 - Philip Morris (listed under Altria, it's name today), #169 - Anheuser-Busch.

IIRC there was some talk of R. J. Reynolds buying Schlitz a few years later - supposedly with the banning of cigarette ads on TV, Big Tobacco had a lot of marketing geniuses sitting around doing nothing.

Heck, PM even toyed with a sort of "line extension" that jumped from butts to beer...